Election rigging is perpetrated by voters, not INEC, says REC

From Mustapha Adamu, Kano

The Kano state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Abdulsamad Abdu Zango has exonerated Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) from election rigging.
Zango stated this at a one-day stakeholders’ engagement on “Strengthening Electoral Engagement for Peaceful 2027 General Elections in Nigeria,” held in Kano on Thursday.
The event was organised by Mambayya House, Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Studies, Bayero University, Kano, in partnership with Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society, Abuja.
Delivering a keynote address at the event, Mr Zango, represented by Sulaiman Alkali, INEC Director in Kano, disclosed that election rigging is perpetrated at polling units by political actors.
According to the REC, the moment election result leave the polling units, INEC had no power to alter it.
“Most of this rigging are done at polling units level. That is the problem we are having.
“If a particular candidate is very popular in a particular area, whether you like it or not, there might be attempts to rig the votes of that particular polling unit.
“ I think the party agents have to do more in safeguarding those votes. INEC does not even have staff to engage in rigging.
“All the electoral staff are as hoc. They are people engaged to do the election work,” he said.
In his remarks, the Director of Mambayya House, Professor Habu Muhammad, said the major objective was to bring together stakeholders whose roles were directly connected to Nigeria’s democratisation process.
He said the gathering provided an opportunity for civil society organisations, security agencies, traditional institutions and other stakeholders to share ideas on how to ensure peaceful elections in 2027.
“The major reason why we are here is actually to bring together stakeholders on Nigeria’s electoral process, including civil society, the security agencies, traditional rulers and other people whose stake in Nigeria’s democratisation process is direct,” Muhammad said.
According to him, the engagement was also aimed at developing mechanisms through which different sectors involved in the electoral process could contribute to achieving free, fair and credible elections.
Muhammad acknowledged that similar engagements had been organised in the past but said the persistence of electoral challenges made continuous interventions necessary.
He argued that past difficulties should not prevent stakeholders from working towards a better future, stressing that lessons from previous elections must be used to improve the electoral process.
“When we mention the intervention of stakeholders, one thing that you need to ask yourself is whether or not, because the past was doomed, then the present must not act for the future,” he said.
He added that the engagement was ultimately aimed at turning negative experiences from previous elections into positive outcomes ahead of 2027.
“The meeting is aimed at ensuring that our negative past has now been turned to a positive future. That is precisely why we are here,” Muhammad said.
Representing the Executive Director of Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society, Imam Fuad Adeyemi, Alhaji Abdul-Qarni Abdulrazak said the organisation had maintained a partnership with Mambayya House for more than two decades.
He said the partnership had produced several programmes focusing on youth development, elections and anti-corruption, adding that both organisations remained committed to strengthening their collaboration.